Starlink Imposing High-Speed Data Caps in France (But Monthly Cost Will Drop)
To cut down on congestion, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet system is preparing to introduce high-speed data caps for users in France that can force them to pay more. But on the up side, the company is halving the monthly subscription cost.
On Wednesday, SpaceX sent out messages to French users about the impending change, which will occur through a pilot program. "Effective August 3, 2022, Starlink is reducing your monthly service fee in mainland France from €99/month to €50/month," according to the message, which was shared(Opens in a new window) on Reddit’s Starlink forum.
But starting in October, the company plans on implementing a "Fair Use Policy," which will involve slowing down users' internet speeds once they exceed a 250GB monthly cap. For more high-speed data, users will need to pay up.
"Users who consume 250 GB/month or less of data will be prioritized. Users who exceed 250 GB/month will still have access to unlimited data, but may experience slower speeds during times of network congestion,” the message reads. “Users can also choose to purchase additional data to recover priority at €10/100GB.”
The company’s goal with the upcoming change is to connect the “greatest number of people without degrading the quality of service,” SpaceX says. Still, the new policy may upset paying subscribers, especially if SpaceX decides to expand these caps to the rest of its customer base.
Since Starlink first launched as a beta, SpaceX has not imposed any data caps. But in recent months, some customers in North America have been experiencing drastically slower speeds, likely due to congestion from too many neighboring Starlink users using the satellite network.
SpaceX plans on solving the network congestion problems
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